The 12 Best Side Hustles For Making Extra Cash

Finding work beyond your day job can bring you closer to your bathing-in-money dreams—or help you pay your rent. Whichever, we're not picky. The point is that you'll get extra money to spend however you choose. Here, 12 side hustles that can help boost your bank account.

1. Look after cute animals.

Petsitting means getting paid to cuddle furry manifestations of everything that is good in the world. Ask around to see if family friends or neighbors have pets that need looking after, or put up a profile on a site like Rover, which does the matching for you.

2. Sell your clothes.

You know that dress you unearthed from your closet last week, but haven't worn since everyone was obsessed with "Gangnam Style"? Sell it. If you look hard enough, you can probably find a lot of clothing you won't miss when it's gone. Raid your closet and take the loot to a consignment shop, or sign up for Poshmark, which lets you run your own online store.

3. Perform odd jobs.

TaskRabbit is a cool service that can pay you for things like running people's errands or assembling their IKEA furniture. They even have a virtual section, so you can hang out at home and make money while doing data entry, web design, and more.

4. Take care of kids.

Babysitting is a tried-and-true side hustle, and plenty of parents are turning to the internet to find trustworthy people to take care of their children. Check out sites like Sittercity or Care.com, or ask around to see if anyone you know is in the market for a new babysitter.

5. Craft your heart out.

If you're big on DIY, don't limit yourself to showering gifts upon friends and family. Start an Etsy shop for whatever you love making, especially if it's relatively low-cost to produce. The awesome thing about Etsy is even niche products like reproductive system-related cross-stitches can find a home.

6. Bartend at nights and on weekends.

Do you know what people like to do? Spend money on booze until they're drunk. Do you know what drunk people like to do? Spend even more money on more booze until they're drunker. If you have a good handle on mixology, are a quick learner, and don't mind the hours, bartending might be right up your alley.

7. Drive people around.

Companies like Uber and Lyft can turn your car into a money-making machine. Although chauffeuring riders where they need to go has potential drawbacks—again with the drunk people—you'll probably also make deep yet fleeting connections with some of them, reminding you of the ephemeral beauty of life. You know, casual chatter.

8. Start a blog.

This is a good option if you're passionate about something but don't need extra money ASAP. Making a profit from blogging usually comes in the form of advertising or sponsored posts, and it can take months or years to work up enough traffic to get there. But if you're obsessed with whatever you write about, you'll have the motivation to keep at it.

9. Participate in university studies.

Whether you're in college or just live close to one, discovering university research can feel like stumbling upon a goldmine. Different academic departments offer up money for people to participate in various studies. You can often make around $10-$12 per session, although that can get into the hundreds if it's a medical study. Google "research participants needed at" along with the universities near you.

10. Experiment with user testing.

Websites and apps perform user testing to solicit opinions about how their programs function. One of the biggest resources for this is the aptly-named User Testing, which gives you digital platforms to explore. Best of all, the process is pretty set in stone: it pays $10 through PayPal for each 20-minute round you finish.

11. Become a food delivery person.

If you like making people's faces light up when they see you, try working for Postmates, a food-focused delivery service. A customer places an order at a restaurant, you grab the food, deliver it, and get paid. You'll make money, and as a bonus, each delivery can turn you into somebody's hero.

12. Seek out focus groups

Companies want to win you over as a customer, and they'll pay to find out how to do it. The point of a focus group is to collect feedback about a service or product. Well, that's the point of it for the company. The point of it for you is making that paper. The pay varies wildly based on the location and company, but check out Find Focus Groups, or Google "focus groups" and your city to get started.